Hanks: We’re going to really miss our ‘Nancy Drew’

Published: Saturday, September 28, 2013 at 05:55 PM.

It’s been a jarring few years at TFP as we’ve bid farewell to some of the most important people in this newspaper’s history in Johnny, Charles Buchanan, Patrick Holmes, Larry Powell, Mary Ellison Turner, Judy Strickland and Denise Fernandez.

But saying good-bye to Nancy is going to be particularly hard for me. It’s hard for me to imagine this newsroom without her.

K-8 COULD BE ON THE HORIZON FOR LCPS: A lot of conjecture, a bunch of rumors and a plethora of disinformation are out there about the possibility of Lenoir County Public Schools going to a K-8 model throughout its system.

In a story first reported by The Free Press two weeks ago, the school system is looking hard at turning all 11 of its elementary and middle schools into K-8 schools, in much the same way Contentnea-Savannah is currently set up. LCPS Superintendent Steve Mazingo would like for it to begin the next school year, but that appears unlikely at the moment.

Free Press education reporter Noah Clark and I sat down with Mazingo last week for an informative meeting in which the superintendent laid out his vision for K-8 schools in the county, how they’d be set up and the positives he sees in their possible implantation.

Be sure to check out Noah’s front page story in Monday’s Free Press on that meeting, which includes interviews with Lenoir County Commissioner J. Mac Daughety, LCC’s John Paul Black and Contentnea-Savannah Principal Frances Herring. We are also going to have many more stories in the next few weeks breaking down the different facets of the K-8 plan.

AN ODE TO OUR NANCY: Monday is Nancy Saunders’ final day at The Free Press.

You have no idea how hard it was for me to type that sentence.

Nancy, who is retiring, came to TFP in 1999, and has impacted hundreds — if not thousands — of lives in the last 14 years. To you, dear Free Press reader, she is the person who is responsible for most of the lifestyles items you see in the paper (weddings, engagements, reunions, etc.).

But Nancy’s impact goes far beyond what you see in the paper. To a lot of folks in Kinston, she is The Free Press — and there isn’t a better person I’d like to have representing this newspaper.

To us in the office, though, she’s more than a coworker; she’s been an adopted mom to those of us who aren’t from here and whose mama may be anywhere from an hour or two away to all the way across the country.

You can tell how special someone is by the loving nicknames they acquire; at various times in our office, she’s been called “Nancy Drew,” “Fancy Nancy,” “Mama Hen” and many others. Nancy and Johnny Hussey (who worked here for an unbelievable 47 years before retiring a few years ago) are two of the most beloved employees at The Free Press in the past few decades.

Tomorrow will be a bittersweet day as we all bid farewell to our Nancy. It’ll be a good day for her as she will now have time to spend with her children and family, but it’s going to also create a humongous void in our newsroom as we lose the person who has taken care of all of us in one way or another over the past 14 years.

It’s been a jarring few years at TFP as we’ve bid farewell to some of the most important people in this newspaper’s history in Johnny, Charles Buchanan, Patrick Holmes, Larry Powell, Mary Ellison Turner, Judy Strickland and Denise Fernandez.

But saying good-bye to Nancy is going to be particularly hard for me. It’s hard for me to imagine this newsroom without her.

K-8 COULD BE ON THE HORIZON FOR LCPS: A lot of conjecture, a bunch of rumors and a plethora of disinformation are out there about the possibility of Lenoir County Public Schools going to a K-8 model throughout its system.

In a story first reported by The Free Press two weeks ago, the school system is looking hard at turning all 11 of its elementary and middle schools into K-8 schools, in much the same way Contentnea-Savannah is currently set up. LCPS Superintendent Steve Mazingo would like for it to begin the next school year, but that appears unlikely at the moment.

Free Press education reporter Noah Clark and I sat down with Mazingo last week for an informative meeting in which the superintendent laid out his vision for K-8 schools in the county, how they’d be set up and the positives he sees in their possible implantation.

Be sure to check out Noah’s front page story in Monday’s Free Press on that meeting, which includes interviews with Lenoir County Commissioner J. Mac Daughety, LCC’s John Paul Black and Contentnea-Savannah Principal Frances Herring. We are also going to have many more stories in the next few weeks breaking down the different facets of the K-8 plan.

Daughety and Herring were part of a special task force set up by Mazingo, who have been researching the possibility of the K-8 coming to LCPS since earlier this year. The task force, which didn’t include a media member (although an invitation was sent to Patrick Holmes, our former publisher before he left TFP at the end of February), has met at least a half dozen times or more, including in subcommittee form.

Mazingo will present the idea of K-8 to the full school board at an Oct. 7 meeting, although he stresses that the only thing he is looking for is the board’s approval to formally look at the idea of K-8 in Lenoir County. The superintendent promises there will be at least three public forums for parents and citizens to receive more information about the proposed move and that no decision will be made until every opinion is heard.

COME WATCH ‘BREAKING BAD’ WITH US: I wrote about AMC’s “Breaking Bad” in a column a few weeks ago, so you know how I feel it’s the best show in TV history. We even dedicated this week’s Free Press Radio Show (find it at Kinston.com) to the show in a roundtable discussion that included myself, Jon Dawson, Matt Holbrook and Zach Frailey.

The groundbreaking series comes to an end today at 9 p.m. — and I’d love for you to join me, Jon, Matt, Zach, Wes Wolfe, Noah Clark and other Free Press folks at a viewing of the show at the DugOut, 674 Stratford St. Ricky and Ryan Killinger, the owners of the DugOut, are graciously allowing us to watch the show on their HD 120-inch projection screen.

There’s no admission charge, so come on out and see what happens to Walter White and his family. We’re going to tape a portion of the new FPRS at tonight’s viewing; come on out and join us and you could be on the show, too.

Bryan C. Hanks is the editor of The Free Press; his column appears in this space every Sunday. You can reach him at 252-559-1074 or at Bryan.Hanks@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter at @BCHanks.